SciDAC SSS Face-To-Face

Erik P. DeBenedictisFebruary 21, 2002

Sandia is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company,for the United States Department of Energy under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

SciDAC SSSSecure Wire Protocol

andCplant Interface

XML & Browser

• Dual Mode– Accepts XML

• For machine-to-machine communications

– Accepts HTML-Embedded XML

• For testingand humaninteraction

<XML>

<XML>

GET /form?XML HTTP/1.0

<PRE>XML</PRE>

Secure Wire Protocol

ClientPrivate

Key

ServerPrivate

Key

Client 1 Public KeyClient 2 Public Key

Encrypted Communications

Example

Technology Employed

• C++• OpenSSL

– For security– 128 bit encryption RC4

• Certificates– Server– Client

• Stream XML parser– Wrote it ourselves– Doesn’t wait for close

• controversial

• UserID and Password– Server needs to log in

as user before executing command

– Not done now• Security Plan

– Can be written– Requires commitment– Unused modes of

access get closed by Sandia security in spite of security plans

XML Process Launcher

• Receive an XML encoded command via a web form.

• Parse the XML to extract the command

• SSL Encryption adds security.

Sequence of Server Actions

1) User establishes a HTTPS connection with Server.2) Server transmits a form with an XML command

framework filled in.3) User submits their command.4) Server receives XML & Parses it.5) Server walks the parse tree to determine appropriate

action.6) Server executes user request7) Server transmits results to user via HTTPS connection.

Simplified Interaction TimelineUser XML Web Server CPlant

Web form submission

execution

raw result

result formatted andreturned via browser

• What You See– XML

• A test schema– Encapsulated in HTML

Input

• What You See– Response to XML

command– Encapsulated in HTML

• Not Done Yet– Parsing and

encapsulating theresult

Output

Conclusions and Future Work

• Approach Works– Work devoted to C++,

SSL, XML SAX parser paid off

– Browser interface good• Demos• GUI to Cplant

– For wimps who don’t want to do everything with telnet

• Future control console

• Need Commitment– I can write a security

plan– But I will be asked “is it

necessary”– If I say “SourceForge

might work too” it won’t get approved

– Need a mandate to proceed

• Should do doable in this case